Thankfully, Hideo Nomo was able to find a contractual loophole that allowed modern day Japanese players to follow his path to the major leagues. In 2001, Ichiro became an instant hit in Seattle and megastar across the United States.

While Ichiro enjoyed tremendous individual success during his 12 years with the Mariners, there was still a missing chapter to his career. Outside of his storybook rookie season in 2001, he was part of a team that was stuck in constant mediocrity.

He was like the rock star who achieved success at Budokan and thrived on the Seattle grunge scene, but never had the chance to play Madison Square Garden.

Weeks before the MLB trade deadline, Ichiro finally got that call he desired to join the Yankees — the biggest rock band in all of baseball. The ultimate showman from Seattle was joining the Beatles of baseball. It’s as if Jimi Hendrix picked up his guitar and suddenly joined “The Fab Four” to form a supergroup.

The crowds at Yankee Stadium have instantly taken to their new star and Ichiro looks very comfortable in pinstripes. Last night, Ichiro’s new fanbase showered him with affection after he sent two home runs into the right field stands. His solo shots were key in the Yankees’ 4-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Even Ichiro was overcome by the atmosphere of Yankee Stadium. “It felt so good, you know? Sometimes you just don’t know how to react on the field, the timing of when to acknowledge it,” Suzuki said after Sunday’s win. “I was embarrassed.”

He’s always had deceptive power, Safeco Field forced Ichiro to use its spacious outfield dimensions to spray singles. Yankee Stadium offers Ichiro the opportunity to use his quick wrists to aim line drives at the short porch in right field.

“I think he’s probably hit to his ballpark, in a sense, all those years. Seattle plays extremely large and if he had been a Yankee for a number of years, who knows how many he might have hit? But we know that there’s power there,” Girardi said on Sunday night.

Since joining the Yankees, Ichiro has hit .322 with with 3 home runs, 13 RBIs, 5 doubles and 4 stolen bases in 26 games.

If you were to stretch these statistics over 156 games, Ichiro would have 18 home runs, 78 RBIs, 30 doubles and 24 stolen bases.

Ichiro, always the improvisor is tailoring his swing to his new home and is already delighting his new fan base.

It’s been an encouraging start for Ichiro. He’s been waiting 11 years to return to playoff stage and it doesn’t get any bigger than October nights at Yankee Stadium.

How good of a fit has Ichiro been for the Yankees? Share your thoughts below and send your tweets to @HartnettWFAN.